My World is Muted
by Leumas98
Summary: One single thing can change the rest of a life forever. Kagamine Rin learned it the hard way. Now, she has to try to adapt to the same world-yet everything will be different with a disability - deafness. With the support of her friends and brother, will she be able to live with this? Based on my personal life story.
1. Prologue - Mute is pressed

**Hi! This is my first story to Vocaloid, so this is kinda special. I've written for Tales of Symphonia before. Anyway!  
This story will be very personal for me. But it doesn't really matters to you now, so you just start reading!**

Any feedback is appreciated! Thanks!

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A singing voice was heard through the school corridors. The voice echoed towards the empty halls, creating a cool effect to it when heard from afar. The source of this singing was walking further down in the corridor, happily skipping past all the unimportant trash on the floor. She was, as by normal, very happy. She continued her happy roaming through the school, but would occasionally stop and look back at the blonde boy carrying two heavy bags behind her. The girl would then ask how it's going, and the boy would mutter something in reply. She would then chirp "'Okay!" happily no matter what he said, and then continue her singing down the corridor. The boy would then sigh, mutter her name, and force himself to catch up with her.

"Rin...you never get tired, do you?" the blonde boy sighed, and rushed a bit as he stumbled down the corridor, trying to not drop the bags. Concentrating on the bags, he didn't notice the wall before he hit it.

The girl immediately stopped, and rushed over to her brother that was lying on the floor. "Len!" she exclaimed. The said boy looked up on her. His nose was a little red from the impact, but Rin estimated that he was just fine. "Jeez, be more careful next time. If you can't handle those bags, just tell me so I can take one for you." Rin proceeded to grab one of the bags, and with an easy swing, she stationed it to her back. She then turned around and continued her song where she left off. Len looked after the blondine as she disappeared down some stairs. _It feels like my manliness just went down even more..._ The boy picked up his bag, and with a sigh he hurried after her.

Outside, the sun was shining brightly. The rays that hit the ground made some of the small snow left from the winter sparkle delightfully. The blondine happily jumped on a pile of snow, crushing the small snowflakes under her feet. "Look Len! I can't believe there are still some left! Isn't it like, April by now?" the girl shouted before jumping on the snow again, leaving another pair of footprints on the snow sculpture.

Len smiled. "Well, I guess the entire thing with global warming doesn't apply here." The boy looked down on the snow. "Hm, this snow seem like it's prefect to make snowba-" he didn't come any longer, as said object made contact with his face. Wiping the snow away, he gave Rin a glare. "Very funny..." The girl just giggled in reply, and started to prepare another snowball. Len looked around to search for cover, but as a second snowball hit him, he changed his mind. Taking advantage of that Rin was preparing the third one, he quickly charged her and tackled her to the ground. The girl let out a yelp as Len landed on top of her. Len smiled, as he could easily stuff her face with snow. But of course, Rin got to it first. The boy forgot to pin down her hands, making it easy for her to push some snow on the uncovered face before her. Giggling happily, she pushed Len away and gathered some snow for a snowball. They were going to stay here for a while.

After much throwing, tackling and happy laughs in the snow, the Kagamine twins finally headed home. The walk to home wasn't very long, the school was quite close to their doorstep. As they arrived, their faces were all red from the cold, and both teenagers wanted to get into the warmth. Shivering, they went into the kitchen to make some food. Preparing some noodle soup with oranges and bananas didn't take that long time. They ate it while cheerfully talking about normal stuff that teenagers talk about. Homework, new TV shows, what to do after school tomorrow. After eating, they washed the plates and then started preparing for bed. Entering their shared room, Rin took off her shirt as she searched for her orange-themed pajamas. Slightly blushing, Len turned around to give her some privacy, and took the opportunity to put his own on. Finished with doing that, he heard the familiar sound of a drawer closing. This meant that Rin had finished, as she always carefully put her used panties in a certain location in her drawer. In case _somebody_ would try to take them. Len had of course no idea who that somebody was, and he really couldn't care less.

"Len, can you please read this for me?" Len heard his sister's request as he was just getting into their bed. Rin was already there, holding a book in her hands. Len scanned the cover. He then slightly chuckled, and smiled.

"Rin, aren't you a little too old for that? That's a kid's comic." Len teased, knowing that Rin would get embarrassed. A slight blush was spread around the girl's cheeks, but even so, she still insisted on him reading it for her. "Alright, fine..." Len sighed. He laid down in the bed, and felt the heat from Rin as she cuddled up next to him, eyes on the book. "Let's see here...One day Little hop noticed that..."

Rin listened closely as her brother began telling the story. Even if the 'story' in question was a child comic for minors, she really liked that comic. Well, at least she liked Len reading it for her. She loved these moments they had. Only them, in a dark room lit by a single lamp, reading a book...She really loved it. She also loved hearing Len's voice. It was one of the things Rin liked the most-being here with her brother, reading a book. Her mind traveled somewhere else as Len got deeper and deeper in the story. She thought about what she would have done in the situations the book's main character encountered. She also thought about school, Len, her friends, life, Len, why that woman were staring at them so strange when they were playing in the snow, Len's voice that read the story for her...Rin suddenly stopped her chain of thought. She frowned. Noticing that her brother seemingly had stopped reading, she nudged him to get him to continue. However, she was still met with silence. _Guess he's just taking a quick break. _She looked at the pages, and she read a little. But then Len suddenly turned the page to the next. _What? He haven't finishing reading this page yet! _Rin looked with a confused look at her brother.

Len's eyes were slowly going from place to place. He was concentrated. His lips were moving, as to indicate that he was reading. Rin frowned, and nudged him again. Len looked up from the book, now having a confused look on his face. His lips opened and closed repeatedly. Like he was talking. Rin was just about to nudge him again, when she realized. _I can't hear him speaking..._ Now Rin had a worried look on her face. Was it something wrong with Len's vocal cords?

"L-len, is something the matt-" her voice cracked. Rin's expression was now fully pale. A worried look crept over Len's face as he looked at his sister. Her face was pale, and in her stormy mind was only one thought visible to herself. It wasn't about the normal school stuff. Nor was it about some groceries she should her brought, nor was it her period. No, only one thing rushed clearly through her mind, paralyzing her entire body. A thought that would come to change so much about her life from this day on.

_I can't even hear my own voice._

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**This was the prologue. Well, please review and tell me what you think!  
Why this story is personal? Well...guess.**

See ya next chapter! /Leumas98  



	2. Chapter 1 - Non-raising volume

**So, first of all: Thanks you all who have given me positive response for this story. I'm really, really happy that you liked it.  
Why? Because this story, will basically be my life. That being said, I'll skip all the boring daily events, and concentrate of the subject of becoming deaf and living with it. Because that's what this story is all about.**

**Now, some of you have asked some questions. RinXLen? Well, um...I FULLY support RinXLen. However...this being a story that is going to concentrate on another subject than romance, that won't really work. (Also, i don't have incest in my life, mind you.) However, there'll be touching moments with them, as Len in this story represents _my family and my best friend; everyone who supported me from one life to another._ I find Len to be perfect for this role. If you want to see it as RinXLen, be free to do so.**

**Anyway, I won't bore you much longer. Just a disclaimer. And I hate disclaimers, so I'm gonna settle it once and for all.**  
**DISCLAIMER: I do not own or is associated with Vocaloid, or ANY OTHER BRAND that may be included in this story. This goes for ALL CHAPTERS. I only own the plot.**

**Now you can concentrate on the story from now on. Have fun!**

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"Deaf."

Len tasted the word as he just exited the hospital with his female companion beside him. _Deaf. Rin. Deaf. _He carefully looked to the right, at the blondine that was staring out in nothingness, presumably thinking deeply about something. Len could only guess what, but it didn't really take an expert to know. He didn't want to ask. It's way too hard and it's new, unfamiliar ground. For the both of them. Len instead inhaled deeply, and took a glance at the scenario before them. Right before them was the end of a asphalt road for cars. It was basically a giant u-turn where cars and mostly buses turned around after dropping or picking patients up. In the middle of the turn itself was some pavement where bus stops was located. It was a pretty basic system, having every bus take a different section, stopping and then continuing, completing an u-turn. _It's like it is for Rin...she's doing an u-turn in life. _Glancing over to his sister, Len wondered if there was anything he could do to make her feel better. If she now was sad at all. Her face showed no signs of sadness, only...emptiness. _Or is that the same thing...? _Len opened his mouth to say something, but quickly close it before Rin saw him. The blonde was very uncomfortable and confused with this new situation, but he could see what he really shouldn't do. _...I'm such an idiot. _Len searched his pocket instead. After some seconds, he took out a writing tablet and a pink plastic pencil attached to it. It was a writing tablet for kids, green and pink. It wasn't really good-looking, but it worked good. Rin loved that tablet. She had used it to learn to draw. Now, Len quickly scribbled something down on this tablet. Pleased with his writing, he proceeded to nudge Rin and showed her the note.

'Do you want to eat something?' was the words that met Rin's eyes. Written in the special elegant, but at the same time laid-back style that was Len's handwriting. She have gotten used to it through the past days. She looked Len deeply in the eyes, and silently shook her head. She didn't feel like she could stuff anything down now.

_It is likely permanent._

The words written on that notebook just a few hours ago pierced through her mind. They had been taking tests. They've been testing, scanning, interacted and even used x-ray. And then they had talked. They had talked a long time with Len. During the talking, her brother would occasionally glance at her, and then return to talking. Lips moving. Moving and moving. But no sound is heard for Rin. Like her ears decided to die. Leaving only a black void where the sounds once where. During this talking, Rin had tapped her feet in the ground. She could her a faint sound in the nerve in her feet. Vibration sounds. But nothing else, and so she kept on tapping her feet. Until they had finished, and her brother took out the writing tablet that had been frequency used the last days.

And then proceeded to tell her the results, repeating the doctor's word in a more careful and sensitive way. He picked his words with care, as he explained with the tablet's help what have happened. As the facts started to slowly crush Rin, he embraced her, patting her head. He softly whispered "It's okay" although the words did not reach Rin. But their meaning did, and Rin answered the sibling's hug. Rin understood what Len wanted to say. He would be there, even if she was deaf. Even if Len's voice was soundless to Rin, they would find ways to communicate. It doesn't matter whenever Rin is deaf or not, they would still talk and be with each other, just like family should be. Standing in a corner, the doctor compassionately watched the scene. The doctor later talked to Len some more, while Rin dived into a book, distancing herself from her thoughts and the outside world.

Rin distanced herself from the flashback she got as she grabbed Len's hand. She tugged his hand as she said "I wanna go home." Len looked at her, and then nodded. He slid a green slider on the writing tablet, and all the text magically disappeared. 'Good idea. We both need to rest.' Rin read on the tablet a few seconds later. She closed her eyes, and felt the wind blowing against her face. Her blonde hair swayed a little, touching her ears. _I can still feel. I can still think. _She took a few steps down to the asphalt, and crossed the road all while holding her brother's hand. The stepped up on the pavement, and entered the bus that was already waiting. Rin took a presale strip out of her pocket, and placed it on the driver's desk. Looking up, she saw the driver's lips moving. They moved in the same pattern, as he was saying something over again. A little time passed for each movement, and his face became more and more angry for each time. Rin could only stare dumbly back. Right when she thought he was gonna kick her out of the bus, Len stepped aside. Rin saw him speak a few words, and the bus driver's face expression slowly converted to one apologetic, yet also pitying look as he motioned to Rin to continue into the bus. The blondine slowly walked towards the back of the bus. She sat down closest to the window. _So this is how it feels..._ Rin looked out of the window as she felt her brother's hand on her shoulder. She gave him a reassuring smile, and he smiled back, relieved. She then returned to her thoughts and looked out of the windows, seeing the landscape changing as the bus drove away from the hospital known to her as Karolinska Institute.

_...To be outside 'normal society'._

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**It gets worse. And better. And a lot of things. This, ladies and gentlemen...is only the beginning.**

Review please! Next chapter will come soon (I hope)


	3. Chapter 2 - A quiet yellow castle

**Welcome to the third chapter of my personal life sto- ehrm, My World is Muted.  
Please just go ahead and read. Oh, and thanks so much for all the feedback and reviews! You all warm my hearts. I might answer your reviews in one chapter further on ^_^**

**Well, go and read! (Based on a true life story)**

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'Rin, we can't go on like this.'

The words written on the writing tablet caused the blondine to raise her head away from the TV screen. She looked on the pink item, and then on her brother. Her hands ran through her short, blonde hair as she tried to comprehend what he meant. "What do you mean, Len?" she asked. Her brother erased the words written, and took the pencil to write some new. Rin was now curious, and she quickly took a look at the tablet as soon as he finished writing. What she saw took her by surprise, and caused her eyebrows to rise in confusion as she opened her mouth to speak. "Special school? But Len, there's no need for me to go to a special school! I can learn in my normal school just fine!" The girl could see that her brother was clearly not convinced. He shook his head. Rin could see his point. In a normal school, teaching would be extremely hard with a deaf person in class. The teacher can't write everything on the blackboard. And all the social interaction she would miss. But of course, she would soon get some hearing aids.

'Your hearing aids aren't enough' Len wrote on the tablet, reading her thoughts. 'You're completely deaf, hearing aids won't help much'. Rin protested. "I can hear a little!" she said with a cracking voice, having hard to control her pitch without hearing anything. Len simply shook his head, and Rin understood that the battle was lost. The girl sighed heavily as she later nodded slowly. _Maybe it'll be better for me. Even if I don't like it... _Rin pouted, trying to make one final attempt at changing Len's mind. "But if I learn sign language, I can get an interpreter, and thus still go to a normal school!" The girl smiled, believing that she could still win this battle. Her smile disappeared however, as she saw Len having the same type of smile. The blondine got to know why as her brother showed her the winning words. Rin realized that she have painted herself into a corner, and she returned to her game in defeat. _Great, Len's interruption made Mario die. Thanks, brother. _The said brother smiled at her as he left the room, preparing to call a certain deaf school about a potential new student that wanted a look-around.

_Where's the best place to learn sign language? Is it really here, brother? _Rin thought to herself as she reminded herself of the words that made Len win the battle. Of course, she knew he was absolutely right. But she didn't really want to admit that. She felt Len's hand tugging her shirt as he motioned to her that it was time to go off. Sighing, Rin stood up from her bus seat, and with a little wiggly steps she exited the bus. She felt the smoke in her face as the bus hastily drove away. Like it didn't want to be here. _That's a great sign. _To her right, her always-caring brother moved his head to get a good look at the place. The duo was standing on a pavement painted white by snow. Some small trees were between the actual road and the pavement, giving it a nice touch of nature. Not that nature were a missing element here-more like the opposite. Across the road on their left was a forest. Yes, a forest. There were a lot of different trees in there, and they got darker and darker the further away they were. Rin didn't like that forest. It looked like a bad omen. Moving her head away from the 'scary dark forest', she looked at the side were the school was located. She could see some bushes on the pavement's right side, right behind them was a small field of grass, along with a playground glider. Len took her hand and they started walking (Rin somewhat unwillingly) towards the main building.

They followed the pavement, taking straight to the right. Now, they were standing on something that reminded Rin of a small town plaza. It was asphalt everywhere. In the far end you could see a playground, and some wooden stairs with a pair of benches on them, along with a green building. But the twins weren't focused on either of these things. Instead, their eyes were glued to what must be the main school building.

To Rin, it seemed huge. Not like being huge...it just seemed huge. The building was, judging by the windows, four floors tall. It was painted in old-school style of yellow, which Rin greatly appreciated. The window-borders were fashionably dark-red, and the girl could tell that some of the windows were painted just for decoration. While the school wasn't that tall, it sure made up for that by its length. To Len it looked like it was maybe about a hundred meters, but he wasn't sure. But the impressive thing was that the building's lines were going in and out, creating small plazas in where small trees were located. To put it simply, the school formed an 'E' that was facing them. On the very top of this was a giant clockwork, telling the time for everybody. In Rin's eyes, the building looked like a big magnificent yellow castle. Which suited her just perfect.

Len tugged Rin's arm once again, pointing to the middle entrance. It had a white sign with blue letters, spelling something that can be best translated as 'The Oasis'. _Funny name. Wonder what it is? _The girl's curiosity got the better of her as she headed straight for this entrance, quickly followed by the blonde. She tried to open the double doors for a good 20 seconds, until Len founded out that you needed to press a single big button on the door's right. Rin flushed an embarrassing color and an "Oh" as the doors opened automatically and Len went past Rin. Even through she couldn't hear anything, the girl could have sworn he was chuckling. A little pissed off, she looked around. 'The Oasis' seemed to be a normal break room for everyone. Comic books and magazines seemed to be normal, and there were some remains of someone's coffee. The room was dark though, as no one was in there. Rin looked around a little more. She could see a small shop which sold fruits. Nice. There was a TV too and a comfortable-looking blue sofa. Some kids' drawing were hung up on the wall.

Suddenly, the room lit up. Confused and a little blinded, Rin turned around to see who pressed the switch. What met her eyes was a woman. She was tall like most adults, and very well-dressed. Her lips were half smiling. Rin could almost feel the authority glowing from her. This was an adult, no doubt. The woman walked towards the twins. Rin, being a little shy, walked up right behind Len and half-hid herself. She grabbed Len's arm, and felt relieved when he held her hand in response. The woman had now moved close to the siblings. Her lips moved, and Rin could almost scream. The past days had been a living hell. She couldn't understand anything what ANYONE said. The only person who really she could talk with was Len. Despite the fact that they had to use the writing tablet to communicate properly, they could still understand each other fairly well without speaking. But with everyone else...

The woman kept moving her lips, eyes focused at Len, and he seemed to answer. _The suspense is killing me. _Rin thought. She had almost completely lost interest in this mysterious lady, when the said lady turned to her. Rin almost glared at her as she moved her lips. But the glaring stopped when the girl realized she was doing something else too. Her hands were moving. The right hand moved to the right side of her forehead, and then moved out in the air. Then, she did something with her right hand that looked like an upside-down 'fuck you'. The hand then quickly changed position so it was a knuckle, except for a single pinky. And then it changed to having the middle and index finger stretched out downwards. Even through Rin had been at something she looked at as an pre-rehab place before entering a deaf school, she almost lost herself at the lady's fast, but simple signs.

"Hi, Rin."

Rin nodded as she slowly, very slowly, signed a greeting back, using the few signs she knew. _Damn it. I can't do this. My knowledge on sign language have to be the worst in the world. And there's no way I can ever get to that speed. Is everyone here that good? _To Rin's surprise, the lady seemed extremely pleased with Rin's signing. Which was totally wrong in the girl's opinion. She then returned to speaking quickly with Len. However, they soon started to talk using the writing tablet, so Rin could follow. What proceeded was an uttermost boring adult conversation, which Rin showed little or no interest in. The blondine instead decided that checking out the comic books was a great idea, and she sat down to read. She read a lot these days. Why? Because reading is one of these few media that doesn't require sound at all. And she was good at it. She continued to read as she in the corner of her eye saw two lips moving. At last, she wanted to check how the talk was going. She walked up to Len. Out of consideration for Rin, they began using the writing tablet again. Rin saw they were talking about the hearing aid. _Well, it really sucked. _She couldn't hear almost anything. Len was right: Hearing aids aren't effective if you're deaf. Sure, she could hear, but she heard more buzzing than actual talk. In the end, it was less pros than cons. But they might have found an alternative. Rin watched as the discussion continued. She thought a little about if she wanted to go here. _It doesn't seem to suck...and it's good nature. I might try... _She looked at the lady. She was signing while talking. It didn't seem easy; it seemed impossible for Rin.

'Hey Rin, would you like to go here?' she suddenly saw before her, the writing tablet almost pressed up against her face. Pushing the tablet away, she then nodded. The lady smiled gently at her, and took the tablet, writing on it. She turned it so the twins could see. 'You need a hearing aid, so you can understand lessons properly until you've learned sign language.' Rin looked at the pink item, and nodded. She understood. Learning would be hard if you can't understand what was being said. She looked into Len's deep, blue eyes. He looked back and nodded. They've been discussing an alternative to a normal hearing aid before. _I guess it's for the best. _She nodded back. Len smiled, and then wrote some letters on the writing tablet before turning it to the woman.

'We're gonna get her a CI.'

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**"What is a CI?" Well, you know what? Just Go Google It, or wait for the next chapter. It's 22.00 here, and I seriously need to get to sleep. I have school tomorrow. And now you know what it looks like.**

Goodnight you all. See you in the next chapter!


	4. Chapter 3 - Put this into your head

**Fourth chapter! Yay! I'm making progress here. But i just can't keep a scheme, so hit that 'FOLLOW' button if you wanna make sure to don't miss any ch of this story.**

**So, a lot of people have asked. Yes, I'm deaf. Yes, this story is what happened to me. Rin is playing as me, and Len as my family, and later on my best friend. Rin and Len's parents aren't included, as I respect their private life. Besides, Len's playing that part anyway.**

**I'm trying to recreate what happened. A perfect recreation is impossible, but I'll do my best. I want you as reader to understand and almost take feel like you're taking part of what I had to go through. That is my goal.**

**Go and read. I won't bore you anymore.**

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The sound of a moving hospital echoed a little in the corridors as it slowly made its way through the maze of doors and walking doctors. Lying on the bed was a cute blondine with short hair. She kept her blue eyes steadily focused on her brother, walking right beside her with a reassuring smile put on his face. It helped keeping the girl's spirit high, which was needed for what shall come. A doctor that was steering the rolling bed said something about that it'll all work out good. Len wanted to believe him. Hope is all he can hang onto. As the bed rolled into an unknown room, Rin hugged the purple teddy bear in her hand even tighter. The teddy had a nametag, reading 'Rin' in white, capital letters. Even though the girl didn't understand exactly what was going on, she knew that this was frightening. Something she don't want to, but have to do. She want the result of this, not the entire process. Sadly, it's required. The bed stopped moving.

With the doctors' help, she was lifted to what seemed like an operation table. Curious, Rin looked around. There was some equipment, but Rin was pretty sure they've hid almost everything. _Probably need to get me to sleep before they start for real. _She cast a quick glance at Len to make sure her brother was still there. Yes, he was there, writing on that far-too-familiar pink writing tablet. When finished, he held it to his sister. 'They're asking if you're aware of what will happen.'

Rin nodded. "Yep. First, they'll make me sleep." she began on somewhat broken language, unable to hear herself. "Then...they'll put this..thing inside my head, right? And then I'll wake up and everything's over." Len nodded. He then turned to the doctors, lips moving furiously. Rin felt the stabbing felling of being left out, as she could not understand a single movement. She never took lip-reading classes, as she deemed that she didn't need nor want it. Rin was a overachiever, boasting in many areas. But there was some where she would simply notice that she sucked and then lose all interest in it. Sign language and lip-reading was two of these. Being deaf was another.

'Alright, now they're going to put you to sleep, Rin. Are you ready?' Rin looked at the text Len written while she was off daydreaming about something. Rin nodded, and stretched out her arms wide towards her brother. He smiled and answered, hugging her tightly. Even if Len couldn't say anything to Rin, it wasn't needed. They knew each other well enough that no words were needed right now. Slowly dissolving the hug, Len stood up. He crossed his hands around his chest, and then made a small vertical 'c' using his left hand thumb and index finger. He pointed his 'c' towards Rin, moving it downwards.

Love you.

Rin smiled as she recognized one of the few signs she knew. She replied the same back, as the doctors brought a strange thing. The thing was a long tube of some sorts. It was orange, and looked like it was made out of plastic rubber. _I have to breathe into this, right...? _Rin looked at the tube's entrance. It was much bigger, and seemed as fit for breathing into. The doctors helped her move the tube to her mouth. The rubber surface sticked to her skin like a pair of wet swimming googles. Rin's blue eyes looked into the tube as the doctors forced her to lie down completely. _Ha! This thing can't possibly put me to sleep! _She took a deep breath, and breathed out through her nose, just like she'd been instructed to. She took another breath, and after that the world went dark.

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Len watched as Rin's eyes closed, her muscles relaxing, and her chest went up and down steadily. She had fallen asleep. _Narcosis sure is powerful..._ He looked at his drugged sister before he got instructed to leave the operation room, as the surgery were going to start. Len nodded, taking a last look at the blondine before exiting the room. He placed his foot one after another, making his way to the closest waiting room. He felt a little dizzy, inside his mind there was a thunderstorm of thoughts. He sat down a comfortable sofa. The blonde let his hands go through his hair as he started his chain of thoughts he'd been trying to not thinking about in Rin's presence.

_It's finally happening. And she's barely aware exactly what she'll go through._

The operation isn't as simple as Rin summarized it. There's not really much more to it, but it's not as easy as she made it sound. She was a smart girl, she of course knew what was happening. But she's naïve too, which makes her to take this as not such a big deal. To Len, it's different. But they both know something; they need her to get a CI, so this is required. CI is short for Cochlear Implant. Basically, it consists of two units: The hearing aid, and the implant itself. The receiver and the transmitter. The hearing aid is a small device that you put on your hear, like a normal hearing aid. It's equipped with a magnet that'll stick to your skin to make sure the device won't fall off. It also have a sound receiver that can 'hear' the sounds that Rin would normally hear. It's battery-powered.

The second unit of the CI is the implant itself. It will be installed in the inner ear, inside the head. The implant is magnetic. The magnetic part of the main device must then have contact with the implant. Aside from assuring that the CI will stay in place, it'll create a magnetic contact between the implant and the device. That way, sound can be brought from the device, emulated to the implant and brought directly into the brain. The entire CI system basically covers the fault of Rin's hearing problems. But the problem is, for the implant to be installed, it have to be placed inside her head.

_They're going to drill into her head._

Len felt something wet in his eyes as he thought of the process. How the doctors were going to cut out a piece of her skin to be able to place the implant and installing it. How they're going to move a tiny connection between the implant up to her brain. How Rin will be there, innocently sleeping while they mix with her head. How her blood will be on the doctor's green gloves. But the most horrific thing had Len made completely taboo to talk about. Yet in this moment, he felt the thought flash inside his mind.

_How things can go wrong._

He didn't want to think about that. He didn't. He couldn't stand it. Tears flowed down his face as he broke down. He buried his face in his hand, shaking violently.

_Rin..._

_Rin..._

_Rin..._

He kept on crying for hours, crying and only crying.

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Rin slowly opened her eyes. _..My head feels really dizzy and heavy... _Half-awake, she began taking in the outside world. She noticed that she was naked, some strange plastic thing being attached to her pussy. It hurt. The pain was normally bearable, but with her drugged mind, she felt like she could scream. Suddenly, a familiar face was right upon her. She stared into the large, blue eyes that was looking at her. The face's mouth were curved in a relieved smile. A hand moved towards her, gently stroking her hair. Rin felt slight pain coming from the head, but she didn't care.

She smiled back as she then lost consciousness, exhausted after the operation.

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**This chapter was hard, as I had to try to write my parents' feelings. I think during this period, they were more affected than I was.  
Poor Len.  
**

**Next chapter will be...abstract. The entire next chapter is a _metaphor. _Which means I'm saying one thing but actually saying something else. You can be confused there if you want to. Or, you can be a Rin make pointless attempts to solve it. **

**Please read and review! Your response means a lot for me.**


	5. Chapter 4 - The forest pt 1

**Hi! Quick update!  
This is a short metaphoric chapter. It's kinda dreamlike and hard to get, but try anyway.**

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Rin walked down a small, nice path. She was in a grassy field, flowers and grass as far as her blue eyes could see. The blonde girl looked forward as she continued to walk down the path, some animals stopped and made polite sounds at her occasionally. She smiled and waved at them. As she walked, she looked everywhere to just enjoy he view. The sky was blue, without even a cloud in sight. The sun shined brightly on the beautiful scenario. She chirped happily on a song as she made her way down on the road. In her hand was a small petite rabbit. Its eyes were looking at the happy female as she gently petted the rabbit's head. In response, the rabbit leaned against her, warming her heart. The happy duo of girl and rabbit continued down the road.

Then the ground crumbled.

It was so sudden, Rin didn't get the time to react. The ground started shaking a lot, scaring away all the animals. The poor girl ran down the path, but she would soon find that it was impossible to proceed. Because after a few meters, what met her eyes was a giant bottomless gap. The ground had fallen apart, creating this void. On the other side, there were a forest. But the forest was dark, as the sun had disappeared and the sky was now black as night. Panicked, Rin checked her surroundings. It was clear that she could not stay on this side for long. It was shaky, parts of the field have begun falling down, leaving a bottomless pit. If she didn't escape to the forest somehow, it was clear she would fall down with the ground. The blondine decided to try to get to the other side, so she started searching for a way there. Soon, she found a bridge. It looked steady, so she hurried over.

She'd been in the forest for an half-hour now. The forest was so different from the field. Its dark trees cast shadows on the already dark ground. There wasn't any happy animals that greeted her, but she could see the eyes of something whispering in the dark bushes of the forest. Rin herself sat down on the ground, crying. The trees were scary, the animals seemed mean and her lovely bunny rabbit had been lost somewhere along the escape. But worst of all – the forest was so dark that she couldn't see anything. Nothing. She could only sat in the darkness, crying. That's what she did up until now, when a familiar thing touched her shoulder. She looked up to see her visitor. It was a deer, she recognized the deer from the happy field. Next to the deer was a llama, that one also being present in the happy fields. The two animals motioned to Rin to follow them, which she did since she didn't know anything else to do. After some walking, they arrived at a deep cave. Rin entered the cave. The two animals stayed just outside, carefully watching over her. The blondine lied down on the hard cave stones and fell asleep.

As she woke up, she could feel a source of warmness. Opening her eyes, she looked on her right. Right next to her was a torch, its light was lighting up the cave, making everything inside visible. Rin looked at it and took the torch. After some various acts of messing up a little with it, she managed to hold it steadily. She exited the cave. Outside, the sky was still as dark as ever. But the torch burned brightly in the darkness, allowing Rin to see the dark forest. Its trees seemed more familiar now, and some of the animals walked towards the light source to greet the girl. Rin noticed that the torch's light didn't reach that far, because she could barely see the outline of the a tree some meters away from her. The girl also noticed that some bushes and trees wouldn't lit up, no matter how close she held the torch. But she didn't care much. What mattered was that she could see again. She looked at the dark forest. It seemed very big, and different from the field. It wasn't familiar at all. But she wanted to continue. She wanted to see the end of her path.

She walked into the forest with torch in hand, wondering if she'll ever see that rabbit again.

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**Short. Anyway, try to figure out what this all stands for.  
Please review if you like my story, as your words warm my heart, just knowing you take time writing something to me.  
**

**I'll try to update soon!  
**


	6. Chapter 5 - Unmuted loneliness

**I'll answer your reviews here, along with some questions. It's the least I can do.**

**_Everyonewhoaskedifiamdeaf:_ Yes.**  
**_Darkflower123: _This isn't official RinXLen. If you want to see it that way, then do so. (I'm RxL fan myself.)**  
**_Comicy: _Fitting? Rin? Me? I'm gonna assume it was a compliment.**  
**_DarkBloodyAngelofAbyss: _Thanks for the praise. As you can see if you're reading this, I'll continue writing.**  
**_Tokioo: _You may be the most faithful reviewer. It's really touching for myself to see that my life actually makes someone sentimental. Your guess at the metaphoric chapter seemed very thoughtful and well-done. You were correct at some/most spots. Let's say you got the main idea. More I can't say.**  
**_Crashgirl701: _You also got the main idea of the fifth chapter. I don't really know what to say to your review, except this: Support Rebecca. She needs all the support she can get. In tough times, friends are one of the most important things on earth. Don't forget that.****  
****_Adorable Reader: _I take it you enjoyed the fifth chapter? I'm planning on returning to the forest later on. But first, more things need to happen in Rin's life. Just have patience, "onee-chan".  
_Yellow Ideya Hunter: _No one ever said my life was kawaii. So thank you, I'm happy you like it.**

**Did I miss someone? Sorry if i did. I'm not very good at this...so, just continue on to the chapter.**

* * *

The green man quickly steers past the banana shells on the road as he heads for the goal. It's the last lap of the entire tournament, with said man in the lead. Or rather, not really. He shares the leading place in points with the guy in red right behind him. The person in the red-colored cart follows the leader closely, aiming to steal the first place. With two persons at the same point, whoever wins this last lap will win everything. _That's why I'll have to be careful... _Len thinks and he pushes his buttons with extreme concentration on the TV screen. Right next to him is his sister, her concentration also directed to the screen. Len casts a quick glance on Rin's right ear. A plastic piece is attached on her ear, the black magnet of it is stuck on her head. It's the CI they got after the operation. _That such technology exist is actually incredible. _Len returns to staring into the lower part of the screen after this short thought. The volume from the game is lower than usual, since Rin is now very sensitive to sounds, there's no way he'll let her expose herself too much to high-volume sounds. Mario's laugh is enough to startle Len.

Speaking of Mario, the second-placer is getting closer to Len's Luigi. Which the boy didn't approve at all. _Last item boxes here. Unless she gets a red shell, I'll win. _The green cart speeds through the items, activating a slot wheel on the lower screen. After some rolling, it stops on a banana. _Yes. Protective item. _Luigi takes out the banana, keeping it right behind to prevent any attacks from his red brother. With a slight smile on his lips, Len gets Luigi to enter the very two last curves. It is possible to take a shortcut from the beginning of the first curve to the second by just going straight, but the desert sand that slows you down will just cause you to lose time, it's not worth it. Len casts a glance at Rin again as he drifts in the first curve, just to see her frustrated face. What he sees worries him greatly. His sister isn't pouting, frustrated or annoyed as she usually are when she's losing. Instead she's smirking a bit. Fearing the worst, Len quickly looks back at the screen just in time to see Mario using the shortcut, speeding past the brother with the help of a mushroom. Two seconds later the redcap enters the goal in first place.

"Unfair!" Len glares angrily at the now laughing Rin as the results for Kalimari Desert shows up on the screen. "How can the game give you a mushroom at that point? I never get what I want!"

"The game loves me, not you. Now be quiet so I can enjoy my earned victory." Len groans as the giggling reply from his sister wasn't satisfying in any way. He could take losing. He couldn't take losing against Rin. His sister just seems to love digging in the fact that she won, and Len lost. In Rin's eyes, such a perfect opportunity to tease her brother just couldn't go to waste. In Len's eyes, she's being extremely annoying but he could stand it. _It's how she is, I'm just glad she's happy now, even if she's making a complete joke out of me... _"The winner must really be enjoying all this beautiful, colorful confetti. And that golden trophy! Too bad the second-placer don't get anything, right Len?" Rin cheerfully pointed out. The boy groaned in reply. _Why couldn't the producers make this cutscene skippable?_

* * *

"There. Enough for today." Len flipped the power switch for the N64, turning off the game. Rin yawned, smiling. She had won yet another game, enjoyed yet one more triumph. This time it was the Special Cup with Rainbow Road in the last. Len won that last stage, but frankly it didn't matter much. Rin had come in better positions than he had on the first three courses, ensuring a victory. It wasn't all that strange. Since she lost her hearing, Rin had cut of all possibilities to meet someone expect Len. She couldn't communicate with them, so what's the point in that? Instead, she closed herself in, reading books to improve her reading and playing video games. She found safety and comfort in these two things, they didn't need communication. She could enjoy them even if she was deaf. Training at playing also meant her chance of beating Len greatly increased. All positive. "You need to be rested for tomorrow." Rin nodded. Len's right. Tomorrow...

_Tomorrow...my first day at the new school..._

After a while of talking, Len said goodnight and left. Rin dressed off and crawled down in her bed. Lying under the blankets, she thought about coming to the new school. _It's good for me...I can learn there. I can actually do something. _She moved a little, and stared dreamily at her window. _Will I make new friends? What...if I don't? _Rin moved again, burying her face as deep she could get into the pillow. _I'll miss Len...I'll really miss him. _She slowly moved into a restless sleep.

* * *

"Alright class, listen up! This is Rin, your new classmate. She lost her hearing a year ago, and haven't learned Sign Language yet." The entire class in front of Rin waved, a lot of hands sticking up in the air. Rin shyly looked at them and waved slightly back. "Please be as nice as you can to her, 'kay?" Everyone nodded at the teacher's words. "Good! Why not take a break so you can get to know your new classmate? Go and play." The class lightened up, and quickly escaped to the break room. Rin found herself dragged along. The break room was a nice place. It had a blue sofa, some toys, books and other stuff. The blondine looked around interestedly, until she noticed that most eyes were set on her. _A-am I expected to say something? _Rin nervously started to slowly move her hands.

She pointed at herself. _M-my..._ She then forced her shaky left hand to flatten itself, taking her right index finger and drags it from the centre of the left hand to the end of her left middle finger. _...name is... _She signs the combination she have improved a little in since last time: upside-down 'fuck you', pinky pointing upwards and then the index and middle finger pointing diagonally downwards. _...R-i-n. _She hesitates as she looks on the others, before remembering there was one more thing. She crosses her index fingers, forming an 'X'. Then, she lets her hands pull away from each other while spreading out her finger, making it look like an explosion. _My personal sign. Star. _'Every deaf have a personal sign', the teacher had explained to her. 'It's usually something about appearance, personality or interests. It must be something that relates to the person in question. The point of the sign is to make it easy to say your name, without having to spell it every time.' She and Len had discussed what sign would be good for her. After some suggestions, they set for star. Why? Let's just say Mario 64 was part of her gaming collection.

After the difficult signing, she waited for the other's reaction. She scanned her new classmates. Some were talking quickly on sign language, only meant for themselves to see. Some others were looking at Rin. But sooner or later everyone started to tell their names and told Rin their personal signs. They made sure to sign slowly. But yet, Rin didn't quite get it. Aside from their names and signs, anything else they said...Rin couldn't grasp it. Not having the knowledge in sign language to understand what they said, she quickly gave up on understanding. She noticed that some were wearing CI. But Rin's hearing with CI haven't been trained enough to comprehend words spoken through a foreign mouth. She can understand Len, but she's familiar with his voice. A new voice is something entirely different. As a result, she couldn't keep a good conversation with any of the kids.

Somehow she managed to excuse herself. She fled to the sofa. Taking a book, she opened it and started reading. The books would come to be her best friend under the entire first time in school, and she would reach a great understanding of reading. Rin stared into the book, locking herself in from the outside world.

_...I really, really miss Len._

* * *

_**"Len", you'll read this sooner or later, right? Thanks for being my friend.**_

**All of you other supporters, thanks for reading this chapter. I'll update soon I think, next week or maybe in the weekend now! So stay tuned. Review and have a happy day!**


	7. Chapter 6 - A friend?

**You reviewers are awesome. Actually everyone who just read this story is awesome. But nothing warms my heart more than the fact that someone actually takes some time to write some words for me.**

**This chapter will be mostly an introduction to the early school life. Things will change, but i have to start somewhere and just scratch a little on the surface. So this won't be as deep as earlier chapters, but it'll make way for some deeper and darker chapters further on. Just wait.**

**So just go ahead and read this.**

* * *

"And this is 'winter'"

The teacher in front of Rin clutched her hands. She then moved them so they hit each other twice. Rin simply groaned and repeated the sign the gray-haired teacher just had shown her. The teacher then nodded, continuing to the next sign. Rin repeated that one too. Yawning, she looked distantly around in the classroom. Or half-classroom, more likely. They had put a temporarily wooden wall in the middle of the classroom, creating a small inner classroom where Rin and her teacher now sat, isolated from the rest. It was Sign Language class, one lesson that never seemed to end. Rin looked at the wooden wall as she heard laughter erupt from the other side. _They seem to be having fun. _She sighed as she mindlessly repeated yet another sign. _I just wanna go home and play. _She cast a glance at the clock. 10.48. Two minutes to go. She looked at the teacher, hoping that she would end the lesson. "First, repeat. W-i-n-t-e-r?" the teacher signed, 'winter' with alphabetical sign language letters, as response to the blondine's pleading eyes. Rin flinched. Desperately, she searched her mind, hoping that today's lesson had gotten to her somehow. After some thinking, she formed her right hand as a large five-claw animal paw, then she put it on her right chest, shaking the hand gently. The teacher looked at her with mixture of disappointment and satisfaction on her face. "That's fall." she signed. Rin could at least tell that she was a little happy with that sign. _Maybe it was one of these signs I "learned" today. _With the teacher's permission, the girl left the classroom for lunch.

Rin hates Sign Language. Or rather, she hates learning it. The main language on this school is of course sign language, which makes it completely needed to actually get anywhere, both in and outside lessons. But Rin's knowledge in that language is no near her classmates. Most of them were born deaf, and these who weren't had years to practice. Rin haven't any of that. It's like a game of Snakes and Ladders, where everyone but you starts at square 40. Feeling that she'll never be good at it and that it isn't worth the effort, she loses the motivation to learn. Sighing, Rin takes a plate and walks over to the food tables. Taking food, she carefully picks only the stuff she likes. _Away with the vegetables. _She then walks over to a table were some other people her age is sitting. She puts her plate down and then leaves to get some milk. She slowly sips the cold milk on her way back to the table and she sits at the table. In that table, they're talking. Actual talking. The people at this table is all part of the same separate class-group. You could say it's class X-2, or something. The point is that the people can all hear and talk. They all have either hearing aids or CI like Rin have. Rin was placed with this group, as retaining the spoken language also is important. Or so she have been told.

"How's the lunch?" The question aimed towards her was coming from a boy. He had blonde hair and though he looked the same age, he was more than a year younger than Rin. The blondine shrugged. The boy nodded and continued to eat his food. Rin smiled inwardly. She had known the boy for a while, long enough to count him as her best friend in school. He was, just like her, a person with CI. Rin liked him a lot. When she first came here, she had searched for a friend. She didn't want to be alone. Sadly, she had been alone for a long time. First, she found a friend. However, they had very different thoughts and views on things, their relationship slowly vanished. Once again alone, Rin had tried to find something to do during the long, lonely breaks. She started to play football on the large gravel football field. She found a playmate, one of the guys in her CI class. It was him. Rin started to talk more and more with him. Soon then started to play football almost every break. Rin wasn't that good, but she was average. She liked playing football.

"You wanna go out after this?" she asked the boy. The boy nodded. His friend on Rin's right protested, wanting the boy to play with him instead. But the boy wanted to play football. Defeated, the curvy-haired blonde friend sighed and left the table. A friend of the curvy-haired drank his milk and left as well. Rin cast a look on the other friend. He had short, brown hair. But that wasn't what Rin was looking at. On his throat was some kind of white thing stuck. Rin frowned. _Is that...the __breathing-thingy? _She had asked the boy about it once. He had explained that the white "thingy" is needed, because without it the kid would be unable to breathe. He also said that the kid is unable to talk, but have natural hearing. _That would explain why he's here. He needs the signs to communicate. _Rin suddenly remembered that she had some sign language homework until tomorrow. She groaned, not wanting to think about it.

"Let's go out." The boy, Rin's best friend, was now the only one left at the table. Rin nodded and followed him, having already forgotten about that homework. She stopped for a moment and dreamily looked out of the window. _This will probably only get better. I'm deaf, nothing worse can happen. Yet I've got a great friend. I will never be alone again._

She was wrong. At everything.

* * *

**And now you all want the next chapter. Actually, next chapter is one big thing too...and Len will be there. He can't stand being left out for a chapter. By the way, do you know that people change? Check Rin's behaviour in the first chapter, and compare with this chapter. Actually, do this regulary. You'll notice how things really change as she grows.  
**

**Please review! oh, and I need some help...I need to come up with some made-up names. I can't use the friend's real names, so if you have suggestions, that'd be great. I'd hate if they were nameless the entire story, and you'd hate it too.  
**

**The clock is 02:41 in the night as this is typed. Goodnight.**


	8. Chapter 7 - Ear for ear, eye for eye

**I wasn't so satisfied with last chapter, so as soon I woke up, I began scribbling down a new chapter. So, now you have some more to read! As a note, I'm happy that this story seems to have raise awareness of deaf people. That's great, because that's sorta one of my goal. **

**So, this chapter...read for yourselves, actually.**

* * *

"...and since then, if you go to the sea and listen closely, you could hear a faint ticking sound coming from the bottom, just like there was a clock down there." The blonde reading cast a glance at the clock and closed the book. He sighed inwardly as he heard the expected complains from his sister. Lying in the bed, he twist around so he saw the blondine in the eyes. "Rin, it's time to sleep." The girl pouted. "I told you I would only read a little further, didn't I? You need your sleep." Len said, trying to convince Rin. _She's so stubborn. _

"Buuuut! It's so exciting! Can't you read some more?" the girl continued to resist stopping the reading session. Her brother however, decided that they both needed to sleep. He went out of the bed and walked through the room. Putting Peter Pan's Adventures on the bookshelf, Rin knew that any arguing beyond this point was useless. She still tried though, twisted herself back and forth in the bed, trying to get Len's attention. Sighing, Len sat down on the bed's edge, looking at he sister. She stopped rolling and just stared at him. She was pouting, her hair had gotten its hairpin removed and Len could tell she really wanted to read more. What makes Len not pick up the book and continue is his sister's red eyes. _She needs to sleep. _Len simply shook his head. He could hear Rin sighing, which was the ultimate sign that he had won. Smiling, he leaned forward and kissed Rin on the cheek, earning a 'Moh'. He turned off the reading lamp that was placed on his sister's nightstand. Casting a last smile at a still pouting Rin, he left the room.

Rin carefully waited, not moving a muscle. She simply listened as she heard her brother go through his nightly process. She heard the toilet flushing, then a door opening. Some steps that soon faded, moving away from Rin. The girl quietly waited a couple more minutes, before deciding that Len had gone to bed. The blondine quietly slipped out of the bed in only underwear, walking carefully on the wooden floor, avoiding all kinds of sounds she could make. Her tiny feets carried her to the bookshelf and she smiled inwardly as her hands took out a certain book placed there not long ago. _Len, you can't stop me. _Tip-topping her toes on the way back, she crawled into the bed and pulled the blankets over her, making her feel warm once again. She flipped the book open and searched for where Len left off. She loved reading, even though she loved Len reading for her even more.

Even though Len earlier have discovered her secret night reading, and prompted her to stop, she still would continue. She really loved reading. She finally found the spot where Len had stopped. She cast a look on the lamp. _The moonlight is enough. It's much more exciting when it's dark! _Not bothering to turn on the lamp, she started reading in the darkness, losing herself in the world the book had to offer. As she continued to read, her eyes got redder and redder, tired out by the dark reading.

* * *

Len sighed. Behind him, the sun rose outside Rin's window, engulfing the room in a beautiful yellow shine. He took a glance at the beautiful, then turned to the sleeping teenager. Rin was peacefully sleeping on her bed. As usual, she had kicked away the blanket in her sleep, spreading out her body on the entire bed. Right next to her sleeping head was a book, wide open. Len picked up the book. His eyebrow went slightly upwards as he saw that the page displayed was a few hundred pages after where he'd left last night. He looked on the peacefully sleeping girl. _She really continued long... _He walked over to the blankets now lying on the floor. Picking them up, he gently pulled them over Rin's body. He smiled and patted her head. Then he quietly left the room so the worn out sister could sleep in peace.

_No matter what, I'll still have to scold her when she wakes up._

* * *

"Come on Len! We'll miss the train otherwise!" The blonde girl running on the bridge had stopped for a second to hurry up her slow brother. The duo was going to get into the city to buy some stuff. So they wanted to take the community train, but they were running late. Hurrying on over the bridge, Rin stopped as she saw the train leave the station. She bit her lip. "We missed it." she announced to her brother, who currently was catching his breath. Rin sighed. "Come on, let's go down so we can check at the signs when the next train goes. Maybe we'll be able to eat an ice-cream meanwhile." Rin stated as she turned around to walk down a staircase that was in the middle of the bridge. Len looked left at a giant sign about fifty meters away.

"Hey, you can look at that instead. It states the time when the train leaves." Len pointed out the sign and Rin looked at it. She then shook her head.

"Nah, it' impossible to see what it says from this distance. We'll need to get closer." Rin turned around and headed from the stairs once again. Len cast a confused look at her. He looked at this sign. He frowned, because Rin's statement made no sense. He could easily see the numbers 15:24 displayed on the big electrical sign.

"What do you mean, Rin?"

Rin turned around. "I mean what I say. We need to get closer. From this distance, it's just all blurry. No one can make out anything from this distance." Rin looked at Len like he was an idiot. Len looked at Rin, and then looked back at the sign that he could easily understand. _Wait...dammit, can it be..._ Rin frowned as Len once again asked her if she really couldn't see. "I've told you, we need to get closer to it! From here, it's just too blurry. Why are you so persistent?"

Len sighed. "Rin, I suspect you might be near-sighted."

* * *

**Tiring and endless is the game of life  
Everything occurring at God's whim  
Claiming the likes if fate in light of that...  
It's sheer comedy!  
**


	9. Chapter 8 - Old sportsglasses

**First, I would like to thank you all for all your reviews and help. Naming, grammar and just moral support in different ways. You're all amazing. I'm sure your help will come in handy sometime.**

**This chapter is sort of split in three mini-stories. They're too small to be a chapter each, so I made it like this. Also to avoid confusion, this entire story is mostly in chronological order unless stated otherwise.**

**Enjoy.  
(Also, i wonder if anyone ever reads the titles? Curious.)  
**

* * *

"Tennis? Are you serious?"

Rin glared at Len like he was completely insane. In her hand Len had placed a paper, a brochure for a local tennis school. Rin looked at it for a second, then pushed it away. She ignored Len's scolding look and continued to eat her sandwich she was holding. "I am not going there." she declared. She continued to ignore Len's looks and instead concentrated on eating her sandwich. Finishing the last piece of bread, she put her hand around a glass of orange juice. Lifting the glass to her mouth, she finished it in one go. Ready to stand up, she took the glass and prepared to walk to the sink. She stopped halfway in her stand-up motion however, when she noticed a certain blonde was in the way. "Hey, move." the girl commanded. To her dismay, the brother didn't move an inch. Which caused the short-tempered girl to become annoyed. "Len! Get. Out. Of. The. Way." Len simply responded with a slight smirk, raising his hand to show the brochure Rin pushed away earlier.

"You should go." Rin glared at Len once again. She firmly shook her head and tried to get past him, but Len stopped her with one arm. "It's a great place. Not a big group either, up to four people." Rin ignored Len's tries to convince her. She was not going, and that is final. She liked sports, but things as joining a club or training sessions are just not her thing.

"Len, if I say no, I say no." Rin promptly refuses. Len opened his mouth to protest against Rin's protesting, but Rin cut him off before he got the chance to start. "It's not like I'll understand anything. I'm used to your voice, others would be too unfamiliar for me. And what if the trainer gets annoyed at that I'll have a hard time hearing him? It's no good at all Len, just give up the thought." Rin spoke the argument she had formed inside her head. "See Len, I'll just be left out and alone because I will have it hard communicating and-"

"The trainer is deaf."

Rin stopped in her protesting as she heard her brother's words. Exclaiming 'What?', she stared at the brother. The blonde simply stated again. "He's deaf. He know Sign Language. You'll have an easier time learning from him."

Rin decided to not give up yet. "Len, it still won't work! I've learned a little Sign language, yeah, but it's not like that'll change anything. What about the other three kids? I won't be able to make a single friend, I'm not good at that kind of stuff..."

"If you'll have one friend there, would you go?" Len asked. His sister thought for a second then nodded. _There's no-one I know that would play tennis, I'm safe. _ Len smiled at her. "Great, then it's settled. I'm entering the training too." Len walked out of the way, chuckling while Rin slowly comprehended what she just had heard. When she understood what Len meant, swearwords was coming from her mouth. But at the same time, she was happy that Len would be there.

* * *

"They look great on you, Rin." The male voice told her that, yet she was nowhere near convinced.

"They may look great. But I don't."

"Aw, c'mon! It'll go great, you'll see. You'll just have to get used to it."

The topic of their discussion was Rin's new glasses. Just today they had both gone to the optician. The staff had earlier helped Rin though a series of test. They all involved the eye in some way, either it was reading letters from a distance, tests involving different lights as well as darkness and the normal studying of the eyes. After analyzing of the test results, the opticians decided that Rin was near-sighted, just as Len suspected. Which means she needed glasses. Which means she had to go to the optician today and choose a pair. Which, in her opinion, makes her look stupid and like a nerd. And that contradicts her brother's opinion. So that's what caused this discussion between the Kagamines.

"I'll never get used to it." Rin whined. "It looks so strange, no matter how I try to see it." She tried adjusting the orange glasses sitting on her nose. She moved it a little upwards, but that didn't feel good. It wasn't comfortable, so she moved it further down the nose instead. Now she looked like an old professor, which she in no way approved of right now. "Argh, it's no good at all!" Taking the glasses off, she resisted the urge to smash them into the floor. Instead she studied the glasses closer. It was standard, rectangular shaped glasses with round edges on the glass lenses. She liked the design, especially that there were tennis-ball symbols on the inside temple. What she didn't like was that the...what was it called...pad plates, the small rubber part that made contact with the nose, holding the glasses in place. It was quite hard and she didn't like that, though the optician had ensured her that it'll become softer the more it's used. As a last piece, the outside side of the temple have an autograph of a famous tennis player, Björn Borg. Well, famous back in the days, but Rin could care less about when his glory time was. After inspecting all this, she put the glasses somewhat reluctant back on her nose and continued to look herself in a large mirror just in front of her.

Expect herself, she could see Len being behind her, eyeing her mirror image. Rin could tell by his expression that he wasn't used to her new look either. Even if he kept saying nice things and compliments, Rin knew that he was leaving all the bad things out. Or rather, she thought so. You can never know. Rin sighed loudly and adjusted the glasses once again, this time moving them slightly up, so she could get a clear view of everything trough the lenses but not have it presses against her skin. It felt much better. "People with glasses look smarter." Len suddenly stated, now smiling at his sister. The girl pouted, mostly because she couldn't come up with anything to say. And it's not like she can easily argue with someone who's trying to compliment her.

"I still don't want to." Rin announced. All her effort into arguing was gone, however. Not willing to admit it, she had begun to take a liking in the new glasses. Len smiled at her and patted her head.

"You'll just have to live with it." With that, he exited the bathroom. Rin cast a slight glance at the closing door, then she looked at the mirror again. She saw a blonde girl with a slim body, two small blue eyes were looking back at her behind a pair of orange glasses. Her hands slowly moved upwards and touched the sides of her head. The hands then gently stroke a metal object that seemed attached to her skin.

_First CI and now glasses...how many things do I have to "live with"?_

* * *

"Great-grandmother, we're here."

Len informed the old woman about their arrival while tugging a somewhat shy Rin along. He smiled at his great-grandparent, the girl next to him mimicking his action some seconds later. The person they both were looking at was a quite old woman. Her face was filled with wrinkles caused by age and hardship, the image of an great-grandmother became even stronger with her white curvy hair. Her blue eyes had lost much of its former shine, but the twins knew that she was in there, listening to them...at times. Len nudged Rin, giving her a look. She nodded and walked towards the bed that housed her great-grandmother. Looking at the senior, she put a box of chocolates on the nightstand. "Great-grandmother, I brought some candy for you. It's the type you like." Rin searched the old blue eyes for a response.

"Thank you, Naika." Rin smiled at the words coming from the senior's mouth. The girl nodded politely and walked back to Len. The older woman had already drifted away in a dreamlike state for now. The twins looked at her for a while before sitting down at a sofa placed in the room. Rin let out a small sigh as she sunk into the comfortable sofa. She cast a look at the senior and then gazed a little on the room around her. There were a bookshelf, some vases and some photos. There was one photo of the woman and her husband, framed with a old-looking gold-colored frame. _Must be lonely here, without him..._

"You know, she actually asked for 'Rin' the last time I visited." Rin's eyebrows raised because of the blonde's statement.

"That's rare...maybe she's getting better."

Len shrugged. "Maybe. Not likely though...dementia isn't something people just snap out from." Len nodded towards the photo. "You and I have actually met the man several times...though we were way too young to remember anything." Rin nodded sternly. She didn't feel like talking about things she can't remember.

"She's turning 96 next year, isn't she?" Rin asked, earning a nod from Len. "Dementia..." Rin hesitated a little before finishing. "...is very normal among old people, is it not?"

Len nodded. "I don't know exactly, but I believe that at least a third of the people her age have dementia. The older, the more risk." Rin silently nodded. She took out a package from a plastic bag she was carrying. Opening it, she found a yellow flower. A yellow tulip. She placed the tulip in an empty vase. Len looked at it, nodding. They both stayed quiet for the rest of the visit.

After a while, they both said goodbye to the old woman. The twins both held her hand gently and wished her a relaxing weekend. They both exited her door and made their way through the long halls all the way to the exit. Leaving the retirement home, Rin looked back at the building. She had a question in her mind that she always gets reminded of every visit.

_...When I grow up and get old...will I become like her?_

"Rin? Are you coming? I'll take the train without you!" The blonde's voice broke through her thought. Exclaiming a short 'Wait!', she turned around and dashed to catch up with her brother. Taking his hand, the duo slowly walked away from the retirement home.

* * *

**For the next chapter, I'm having a hard time deciding if I should write about something rather sad first...or some mini-stories circulating around deafness. I can't decide, so unless you readers decide for me, i'll just flip a coin or something. Regardless of order, both topics will be written.**

**Summer is soon coming. I'll see if I can write some more later.**


	10. Chapter 9 - I'm deaf DEAF!

**Hey everyone! I've been on a hiatus...it's summer! I have other things to do too, y'know? Well, I managed to make a chapter. This chapter consists of two stories. I hope they'll make you think a little. Also, a little light on the second one because you need it after the first. They both involve deafness in some way.**

**Anyway, have a fun read. I'll make the sad part next time.**

* * *

Central Station.

This station is a very crowded station, as it is in the capital of the country. Every day, thousands of people walked past the gates and took the stairs down to the train platform. Rather, it was some hundred thousand every day. At least that's how it felt for the little blondine that tried to sneak her way through the crowd. Dodging one person after another, she made her way to the metal blockade that you only can push if you've verified your ticket. It was just a commuter train, yet they had to charge for it. Trains aren't cheap, and neither is all the service the stations need. So the train company mercilessly charged a good amount of money from every passenger. The best way to travel was using a monthly card, as with some easy math, you could delude that in the end, it was the cheapest alternative if you travel every day. Which about 90% of the crowd do.

But or focus aren't on the prices. Our focus should be at the small blondine that is looking at the metal blockade, pouting. The blockade was fairly easily constructed. You verify your ticket, and then you can push the metal bar that was in the height of Rin's stomach. By pushing it, you would go through and it would then roll over, making way for another bar that would position itself in the same spot, so next passenger had to pay too. Enough with that blockade. Point here is, you need a ticket to get through. And Rin sure as hell didn't have one.

Muttering to herself, the girl reached into her pocket. After a little searching with her hand, she decided that she had no money. _This is so stupid. Maybe I should have waited with buying that game. _She slightly looked into a plastic bag she was carrying. She slightly let off a smile as she saw that the game she had wasted all her money on still remained in her possession. _Well, it was worth it. Can't wait to try it out... _The blondine slightly yelped as someone who was in a big hurry pushed her, almost making her trip. "Goddamn crowd..." she cursed. Sighing, she turned to look at an information sign. _Train's coming in five. I so wanna get home..._ She cast a look on the iron bars. _No choice. _The girl walked over to them. Quickly checking that no guard was looking, she ducked and slid under the iron bars with a slight smile. Before she knew it, she had escaped down to the platform.

Reaching down just in time for her train, Rin snuck into it and found a nice seat next to a window. She sighed once again and rested her head against the wall. She looked out the window and just dreamed a little. Thought about stuff and just simply relaxed, just as she always do.

PIIIP-PIIIP-PIIIP

Hearing the sound, Rin swore inside her. That sound was way too familiar. Her hand reached to her ear and she took out a metallic item, previously hidden behind the blonde hair. She looked at the small display on it, and swore again. The display read H1. Rin didn't knew what exactly H1 stands for, but she knew what it meant. No battery. No battery in the CI meant no sound. The other Ci she'd gotten a year after the first one was already empty. _God-fucking dammit. I need to remember to bring batteries with me wherever I go...so annoying. _She looked out the window while taking a note about that she should take some notes about when she last switched batteries. She happily noted that her next station was her drop-off. _Soon I'm home, and then I can switch so I can h-_

A nudge on her shoulder interrupted her thoughts and made her swing around in confusion. Seeing a tall, manly figure standing in front of her. In his hand was some sort of device. _Oh holy shit. Not an inspector. _ Rin felt a panicked feeling take over her. Normally it wouldn't be like that. Normally, she would take out her card, hold it up for him and he would scan it and nod. Then he would leave and that's it.

Except...she didn't have any card today.

Rin's panic rose as she realized another thing. The man's lips moved, but no sound was coming out. _I can't even explain myself out of this, not when I can't hear... _Rin was now becoming quite scared. She knew how much the fine for traveling with no ticket was. Boy, it wasn't a small sum, it was about the cost for three monthly cards for adults. That wasn't cheap at all. _Everyone's gonna be mad at me..._The urge to cry raised inside her as she saw that the inspector's face seemed angrier. His lips were moving again. Rin had thought it was scary to see people saying things without knowing what they say. At least when they're angry, something this guy definitely was. She felt a shiver going down her spine. The guy now seemed at his limits, and so was Rin. In the top of her panic, she did the first thing that came to mind.

She signed. Desperate movements of her hands, now much more fast-paced than before. She tried to explain. She knew he wouldn't understand what she had to say. She started with the sign for "deaf" and then tried other signs like "can't hear" and other variations. She wanted to express some kind of explanation. Something that would make him let her go. Or just lower the fee. She just didn't want to stand there, being unable to do anything. As she tried, she saw his face go from angry to confused and then a look she couldn't really place. He sighed and pointed to the door that just opened. Rin blinked. _...He...he understood? _Her entire mind suddenly screamed with happiness and gratitude for this man. Quickly nodding, she left the train as fast as she could, the vibrating sound of her feet hitting the platform reached her mind.

Then the understanding stuck her, destroying all her joy in a single hit. The look the man had when he showed her out of the train, it wasn't a happy or angry look. It was a look of pity. Turning around, Rin watched the train leave the platform. She continued to stare after it for some seconds, trying to take in everything that happened. Nevertheless, she was still thankful for what the man had done, but...

_...Did he pity me so much...just because I seem dysfunctional to him?_

Rin shook her head and started walking home, wanting to try out her new game so she can forget about what just happened.

* * *

_RIN-RIN-RIIIIIN...RIN-RIN-RIIIIN..._

"Len, the phone!" Rin yelled. Some seconds after, she heard footsteps in the staircase. Rin looked at the phone and hoped that whoever called wouldn't hang up before Len picked it up. The girl made a pleasant sound as she slurped some of her warm chocolate drink. The yummy taste resided in her mouth, making her spirit feel happy. She smiled and took a look at the phone. She was not going to pick it up. The CI had many good things with it, but it had no compatibility what-so-ever with phone calls. _It's kinda sad that Len have to answer them all...I'd like to talk, but when I can't hear what the other person's saying, I hate it. _

_RIN-RIN-RIIIIN...RIN-RIN-RIIIIN..._

"Coming!" The young boy dashed though the room and picked up the phone, sighing inwardly. "Kagamine."

"Ah! Is it Ms. Rin Kagamine I'm speaking to?" The voice on the other end was foreign and spoke in a business-like tone. _Probably some salesman_, Len thought.

"No, it's her brother."

"Oh, I must have been mistaken by the lightness in your voice. Can I speak to her?"

_Don't imply that I have a girly voice. _"No, you can't." Len answered, somewhat annoyed.

"Oh. How come?"

Len played around with the thought of telling the salesman a long, complicated explanation of CI and deafness with lots of random words he would make up on the spot. "She's deaf."

Suddenly the salesman's voice took a 180. It became darker and apologetic. "Oh...I'm terribly sorry for your loss. I feel bad for reminding you of your sister. You have to excuse me." _Click._ Whoever was in the other end had hanged up.

Len stared at the phone, utterly confused. His confusion soon turned into a smile and he chuckled. He turned around and sat at the table with Rin, the girl giving him a "what is it" look. The boy just kept on smiling and said "Oh, it's just that you're apparently not the only one with bad hearing."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Just that some random salesman now thinks you're dead. He won't be calling again." Rin's look went from confused to even more confused, then she understood. Letting of a smile, she drank up the last of her chocolate.

"Well, I guess it's easy to mistake the words, but still...I'm not dead, I'm deaf!" Rin exclaimed, now annoyed. Her beloved brother just sat in front of her, trying to stifle a laugh. Rin sent him a glare. As funny as it might be, she didn't like be called dead by anyone. Sighing, she put her mug in the sink and started walking out of the room.

"Hey Rin."

Rin's movements stopped. She turned towards Len with a still annoyed look on her face. "What?"

"When's your funeral?" Rin could hear his laugh trying to escape from his mouth. She hit him lightly and chuckled slightly.

"You're actually quite funny, Len. I like your jokes, but I'm not in the mood right now." she stated. Len gave off a smile, knowing he had won this time. Rin just sighed. _This idiot is impossible. Just like me. _She started her walking again, wondering if she'll be unsubscribed from the salesmen list now that they think she's dead.

"Hey Rin, what's the afte-"

"Don't push it."

* * *

**And sorry if that was short. I'll make sure that next one is longer.  
Though I do hope that at least one of these stories got you thinking a little...**

What do you think of My World is Muted so far? This is the 10th chapter, so I wondered if you could review a review for everything so far? That would be helpful for me.

**Well, see you all next chapter! I'll go and play Mario Kart now...or something.  
**


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